The fifth Cat A European Spring Championship finished last Sunday after three days of racing. The event was organized by the Circolo Vela Arco on the well renowned Garda Lake. It has been a big success with 48 athletes on the starting line with a large and highly qualified foreign representation from Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Holland, France, Denmark and Austria. Worthy of notice was the presence of a crew from Argentina.

Equipment Inspection at the 2017 World Championships at Sopot will be done on a post race basis. (Please refer Equipment Regulations posted on Worlds website with particular reference to “Day Zero” and its implications)

At the 2016 Worlds, a boat turned up at Medemblik with a distinctly different look at its back end. It was the Scheurer G7 of Sandro Cavizel, the Swiss Champion. It had an empennage extending the tramp from the rear beam to the hull ends. This was designed to smooth the airflow from underneath the tramp and remove any drag vortices caused when the airflow drops off the beam and meets the air falling off the hull ends. It was sailed all last season, proving an efficient platform.

With the Southern Hemisphere going into the winter months, Bob Griffits sends this end of year report.

The 2016/17 sailing season has drawn to a close Down Under, following the completion of the Queensland State Titles on the first weekend in May.
The Qld titles had been delayed a few weeks due to the appearance of Cyclone Debbie, which ravaged North Queensland, and deluged South Queensland in April. Steve Brewin won the event in emphatic style, from Andrew Landenberger, with Mark Johnson third.

It was a busy weekend for the European fleets - this report on the Dutch Hellecat TT is from Rutger Krijger on the A-Cat Class event Hellevoetsluis.

Competitors were welcomed on Saturday 13th of May at the popular A-cat location Hellecat, with lovely sunshine and a nice 8-12 kts of breeze. During briefing the race committee told their intention was to have at least 4 races per day, depending on the conditions. 14 boats were entered, with a few new faces and a few new foiling boats on the scene.

On a weekend of textbook catamaran sailing weather, the Rutland ‘A’ Class TT took place on the 13th – 14th May. A stiff 13-16 knot breeze kept blowing pretty much the same each day and the broken cloud that developed certainly helped the feel good factor in the boat park. 14 boats raced, with 5 of them being visitors.

A-Cat Class Rule rewrite - UPDATED

The Technical Committee has updated the rule rewrite, based on some of the questions and comments received since first published. There are a few minor changes, and a few with a little bigger impact. Here's a list of the changed rules:

C5.1 (b) – parts of the rule have been deleted.

C5.1 (c) – added.

C5.1 (d) – added.

Our current rules does not limit the usage of compasses, GPS or other devices, so therefore the rewrite also shouldn’t do it.

During the world-wide poll conducted in November 2016, more than half of the answers came from people with floating boats and not being sure if they want to buy a flying boat. The same majority asked for a "floating" category.

We have listened to your opinions and have now submitted a proposal to establish a "classic" discipline, within the World Sailing regulations. I recommend you to read the attached letter to understand the details of our proposal.

Jacek Noetzel reports - On May 2nd-3rd, 2017 the Sopot Catamaran Cup regatta was held at the venue of the this years World Championship in August. The regatta was organized by sailing club UKS Navigo under the auspices of the City of Sopot.

On the first day of the regatta, before the races, competitors on their cats took part in a live broadcast with a parade on the famous Sopot Pier. The fans could see everything on the water from the pier and the beach.

Giovanni Calabria wins the National A Class regatta organized by the Centro Velico Sunset. Lorenzo Bianchini and Vittorio Bissaro respectively on the second and third place on their debut in the 'A' Class - reports Pier Faccin.

During this weekend at Calambrone, near Livorno, the second stage of the Cat A Italia’s Calendar was held at Centro Vela Sunset. With 31 registered helmsmen, this event has somehow redeemed the quite slow start of the new ITA season seen at the Vele di Pasqua event.